The Cleveland brewery announced Wednesday that it will release the year-round Turntable Pils and seasonal Lightkeeper Blonde Ale in 12-ounce cans and 12-packs starting in May. Rally Drum Red Ale and Turntable Pils also will be released in 16-ounce cans in 12-packs beginning in August.

Great Lakes, the oldest and largest craft brewery based in Ohio, has offered its beers in bottles and on draft only. But it noted that it wants to get into can-friendly venues where bottles aren’t welcome.

The brewery, which will still produce bottles, is joining the can trend late, as many large craft brewers have added cans in recent years and many newer craft breweries have eschewed bottles.

Great Lakes said it has wanted to can its beer for awhile, but hasn't had the space to add a canning line. The brewery has long complained that it has been unable to expand in its tight Ohio City neighborhood.

"We made the decision to seek a partner to help us get our beer into cans as an interim solution," brewery spokeswoman Marissa DeSantis said. "We see this as a positive but temporary step that will serve us until we have our own canning operation."

Great Lakes is partnering with Harpoon Brewery, which has locations in Boston and Windsor, Vt., to produce the cans. Great Lakes praised Harpoon's lab and quality control processes.

"They've also been very collaborative and open to our approach -- using our materials and yeast, making adjustments to their water as needed, and allowing us final sign off on each batch," DeSantis said. "So not only do we benefit from their brewhouse capacity and equipment, but their culture, philosophy and commitment to quality all align with our values."

Great Lakes brewmaster Mark Hunger said in a news release that he's most focused on "making sure the quality and taste of any beer we put our name on is what our customers expect."

The brewery said it's "considering longer-term expansion opportunities" while it partners with Harpoon.

"We are continuously exploring the next step in our growth, as we are currently at capacity in our Ohio City brewery," DeSantis said. "Brewing and canning with Harpoon is a great bridge strategy for us, but we hope to make canning part of our own operation in the future."

She was noncommital when asked if Great Lakes fans should expect to see other brands in cans in the future. The brewery is focused on only the three brands this year.

"As this is our canned debut, we’ve got lots to learn and consider," she said. "We’re just excited to take this first step, see how these three beers resonate with our customers, and take it from there."

Harpoon, known for beers such as IPA and UFO, is the 18th largest craft brewer by sales volume in the U.S., according to new data released by the Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association. Great Lakes is the 21st largest craft brewery.

“We’re excited about our partnership with Great Lakes," Harpoon Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Dan Kenary said. "I’ve known [Great Lakes co-founders] Pat and Dan Conway for more than 25 years and consider them old friends in the industry. They run their business similarly to the way we do at Harpoon, with an emphasis on quality and a real pride in brewing independence. So when I read that they were looking for more capacity and canning, I reached out to them. We’re happy that we’re able to help.”

The event is slated to hit Express Live! in Columbus at 4 p.m. July 1 and feature Smallpools as the musical act, while the Cleveland stop is at 7 p.m. July 5 at the House of Blues and will showcase Rainbow Kitten Surprise. The festival, now in its 18th season, kicks off May 20 in Asheville, N.C.

The Fort Collins, Colo.-based brewery hopes to raise more than $600,000 for local nonprofits during the tour, which will visit 33 cities nationwide.

“This is one of the greatest ways we can give back to local communities,” brand manager Sam Sawyer said in a prepared statement. “Not only do folks get a great event with top musical acts and plenty of spectacle, local nonprofits get a cash injection and the opportunity to share their message. It’s like a win-win-and win-again scenario. This is without a doubt some of the most fun we have all year.”

New Belgium will host a battle of the bands in many cities prior to the event to give local bands the chance to represent their hometown scene.

The Virginia brewery — it has locations in Roseland and Lexington — is known for beers such as Vienna Lager and Eight Point IPA.

Devils Backbone, which was named Mid-Sized Brewing Co. of the Year at the 2014 Great American Beer Festival, is hosting kick-off events in Columbus and Northeast Ohio the next two weeks and is promising an "aggressive list of limited-release offerings."

-- The Brewers Association conducts a Q&A with Bret Kollmann Baker, the head of brewing operations at Urban Artifact in Cincinnati. "There's very much a mad scientist vibe going on here at Urban Artifact," he says. To read the full Q&A, click here.

-- Cincinnati.com reports on the new Narrow Path Brewing Co. in Loveland. The brewery opened Friday. "We're homebrewers so we've got about 40 different recipes," co-founder Chad Powers says. "We're just throwing things at the wall to see what will stick." To read the full story, click here.

-- The Sandusky Register reports that the design for the new Great Lakes Lightkeeper took its inspiration from the Marblehead Lighthouse. "When we considered brewing this beer, we thought about the Great Lakes," spokesman Adam Ritterspach says. To read the full story, click here.

-- Pat's Pints hosted a blind taste test of double IPAs, with first place being a tie between Fat Head's Hop JuJu and North High Stardust to Stardust. To read the full report, click here.

-- The Gnarly Gnome reports that Blank Slate Brewing will release The Lesser Path and Pilmo in cans. To read the full report, click here.

-- Cleveland.com reports on Sibling Revelry Brewing making a gluten-free beer. "No one around here is really doing it," brewer Pete Velez says. "It is a niche market, it's something we can use to differentiate ourselves in the ever-crowding beer market." To read the full story, click here.

-- The Raging Hop reports that Streetside Brewery will release its first canned beer: Suh, Brah?, a New England-style IPA. To read the full report, click here.

-- Columbus Business First reports that Amazon.com Inc. is offering beer and wine deliveries in Columbus and Cincinnati. To read the full story, click here.

Here's the rundown of the brewing permits pending before the Ohio Division of Liquor Control. These could be for new breweries or existing breweries that are expanding with new locations. I've also added hyperlinks when I could find working websites or Facebook pages.

This list isn't a comprehensive list of every brewery planning to open in the state. It's just the ones that have filed paperwork with the state.

Answer: Well, like most, I started out in my garage brewing from a kit, and I just fell in love with the brewing process. As I started to build my brewing equipment, then going from kits to all grain, and getting more experienced, I just got more and more interested in the art and the learning of new techniques. I would go to a lot of breweries and try to figure out what I was tasting and to see if I could replicate the taste. Then about four years ago, I just started to do my own thing and I've been doing it ever since.

Q: What has been the highlight of your brewing career so far and why was it so special? (Maybe it's been a beer that you brewed, an award that you won, an idol you've met ...)

A: The highlight so far has been watching the expressions of peoples faces when they try our beer. I have to say, it's very humbling when people actually like drinking what you have made. Most of the time they are surprised that they like it, especially when they are not much of a craft beer drinker, and then they turn around and take home a growler on their way out.

Q: What advice can you give future brewers to be successful?

A: Never stop experimenting! Don't let a bad brew slow you down. Lets face it, you're going to brew something that's not going to be popular. Take the time to find out what the people in your area are drinking. My business partner, Mark Young, and I did a lot of research and brewed a lot of different beers. We took them to parties, beer clubs, and fundraisers. We let the people tell us their honest opinion of what they thought, and believe me, some were pretty harsh. Just because I thought something I brewed was awesome doesn't mean the next person will. Always be prepared for criticism.

Q: What’s your best-selling beer and why do you think it’s so popular?

A: Our best-selling beer is the one we call The Killer Bee. We market it as an IPA for people who do not like IPA's. 7.1 percent ABV and 111.1 IBUs. We add honey and orange zest to give it a sweet, slight alcoholic warmth finishing with a citrus taste. The honey and orange really tone down the hops in the beer. At one of the beer clubs we went to and displayed The Killer Bee, there was a long discussion about the beer itself. Was it an IPA or something else? In the end, everyone agreed that it was an IPA. I think that's one of the reasons why it's so popular, because people don't know how to categorize it, and another reason is that people who don't like IPAs can't believe they like it.

Q: Which beer – any beer in the world – do you wish that you created/invented/brewed and why?

A: Easily Hoof Hearted South of Eleven. I think that is one of the best IPA's I have ever had. I've only been able to get my hands on one of them but I thought it was amazing! The next one I get I will have to hold onto it for awhile and open it on a special occasion, it's that good!

Editor's note: The Five questions with ... feature appears each Friday. If you would like to participate or would like to nominate someone to participate, email me at rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.

Nick Seagle and Tom Mitchell were struggling to pick a name for their new nanobrewery.

Then — just like in the movies — it came to Seagle in a dream.

“I was sleeping and I had a dream that we were at a brewery ... and I looked over and on the wall it said, ‘Headtrip Brewery,’” he said.

He relayed that story to his friend and business partner and viola, their new venture, which they hope to open this summer, had its name.

The trippy logo features an upside down, side view of a smiling face. The head serves as a beer mug and a hop cone and barley are inside the mug.

Headtrip, which will employ a custom-built three-barrel brewing system, is tucked between a tanning salon and a consignment shop in the Stow-Hudson Towne Centre shopping plaza on Norton Road.

Seagle, 32, of Cuyahoga Falls, who works in a motor development lab, and Mitchell, 34, of Stow, who works as a fabricator, are busy now renovating the small storefront space, which used to be a juice bar, and building their brewing system and furniture.

The brewery will feature a small bar with only about six seats; tables and chairs; and a dart board. There won’t be any televisions.

“We want it to be that friendly, get-to-know your neighbors place,” said Mitchell, who has been homebrewing for several years. “We want people to talk to each other.”

Their goal is to replicate the atmosphere from the former Trailhead Brewery, a tiny place that closed in Akron’s Merriman Valley neighborhood. Seagle and Mitchell first met there and bonded as friends.

They are opening a brewery for the same reason many homebrewers make the step — friends told them their beer was pretty good.

Headtrip is one of many new craft breweries coming online as part of a wave of openings around the country. There are now more than 4,200 breweries in the U.S.

The Akron area has seen its share of growth. While there were only three a few years ago, there are now 10 operating in Summit County, with at least another four in the planning process.

The local breweries are spread out enough that there’s plenty of room for more growth, Seagle said.

“I don’t think we’re even getting close to the saturation point,” he said. “There definitely can be more.”

The brewery expects to offer six beers on draft at the outset. Seagle and Mitchell are still figuring out which styles, but they expect an IPA, English mild, chocolate coffee peanut butter ale, Belgian-style beer and fruit beer.

People should always expect rotating fruit and Belgian-style beers.

“Fruits are definitely one of my favorite styles to make,” said Seagle, who works in a motor development lab and has been homebrewing for more than six years. “I mean endless possibilities. The Belgian styles are probably the best style of beer, in my opinion. They are just a flavor unlike anything else.”

He’s also fan of color.

“I love colors in beer,” Seagle said. “When I make stouts, they have to be black, completely black.”

They are still determining the hours for the brewery, but expect it will be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with shorter hours likely on Sunday. Headtrip won’t offer food, but will allow people to bring in their own.

The event, which is open to the public, will feature IPA, Wit, Coffee Stout, Pils and Brute Force Double IPA.

The production brewery and tasting room in downtown Cleveland opened its doors in mid-January. Its draft beer is now available at about 40 bars and restaurants throughout Cuyahoga County, general manager Jeff Draeger said.

"People have been very, very pleased with the quality of beer that’s coming out," he said.

The brewery has ordered three more 20-barrel fermenters to keep up with demand, and will start producing some Belgian-style and Trappist beers, Draeger said.

The top seller so far has been IPA.

"The IPA has been killing it everywhere," he said. "It's pretty wild how the IPA is moving."

The fourth annual beer tasting in Lorain — set for Aug. 12 — is shifting from Broadway Avenue to the Black River Landing festival site.

Organizer Howard Ross, who co-founded the Franklin Brewing Co., said the “street fair thing was interesting and cool” but the event also had to deal with tents, shutting down the street, power issues and worries about weather in past years. (Iffy weather impacted attendance last year.)

Those won’t be problems at the Lorain Port Authority-run Black River Landing, where there are pavilions and stages for musical acts. As Ross mentioned, the pavilions offer shelter from both rain and sun.

“It’s a really, really nice venue and it’s perfect for doing an event like this,” he said. “It’s 30 seconds from where we were.”

The festival, organized by the Lorain Growth Corp., will showcase about 50 breweries. Organizers are still lining up brewers, vendors and sponsors.

Discounted tickets are on sale now. They are $20 if purchased before March 31. After that date, they will jump to $25, plus a $2.50 service fee. Tickets on the day of the event are $35. Designated drivers — over the age of 21, of course — are admitted for free.

The tickets are inexpensive when compared to other beer festivals. There’s a reason for that.

The goal is to bring people to downtown Lorain and show off the community, as opposed to making money, Ross said.

Last year, about 1,000 people attended. He hopes to grow attendance to 2,500 to 3,500 this year, and even larger in future years.

Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland, the only Ohio-owned brewery on the craft list, came in 21st. It's the same position as last year.

Boston Beer Co., which has a Samuel Adams brewery in Cincinnati, was second on the craft list and sixth on the overall list.

The top five craft breweries — which remained unchanged from a year ago — were: D.G. Yuengling & Son, Boston Beer, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and Gambrinus.

Forty of the 50 overall largest breweries were craft brewers. The top five largest overall breweries were, in order: Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, Pabst, Yuengling and North American Breweries.

“With such a broad range of brewers in today’s beer landscape, the leading small and independent producers have helped build the craft brewing industry to what it is today,” Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson said in a prepared statement. “Embracing their experience and ability to thrive and overcome challenges, the top producing craft brewers will continue to inspire, innovate and influence the future of beer.”

The pack, which hits the Ohio and Kentucky markets today (March 15), features three cans each of Third Wave IPA, OTR Ale, Pacer Citra Pale Ale, Purity Pils and a rotating seasonal beer. The seasonal beer will be Bay of Bengal Double IPA, Big Piney IPA, Das Über Fest Lager or Strawberry Pig Cream Ale. The featured beer will be labeled on the package.

There’s Citra Dog, Labrador Lager, Cerberus and Siberian Night Imperial Stout, just to name a few.

Given the pooch-inspired lineup, it’s no surprise that the Akron brewery is being playful with its 20th anniversary this year.

“We’re 140 years old — in dog years,” co-owner John Najeway said with a laugh.

Kidding aside, Thirsty Dog, one of the oldest craft breweries in Ohio, isn’t resting on its laurels as it commemorates two decades of beer production.

The brewery is embarking on several major projects this year — everything from an updated brewing system to a new off-site tasting room and kitchen in Akron. The goal is to keep Thirsty Dog relevant in a growing and often fickle $22 billion craft beer market in the U.S.

“It’s nice to be the lead dog out there but you have everybody nipping at your heels,” Najeway said.

A little history

Thirsty Dog began in 1997 as a brewpub in suburban Canton.

It added two more brewpubs in subsequent years, one in the Dayton area and another in suburban Akron. But by early 2005, they had closed.

The brand survived with its bottled beer being made on contract in Fredericktown, Md.

In 2007, Thirsty Dog brought production back home, opening its own brewery at 529 Grant St. in Akron, the former headquarters of the Burkhardt Brewing Co. — meaning the brewery is celebrating not only 20 years as a brand but also 10 years of producing beer in Akron.

At the outset, Thirsty Dog made eight different beers. Today, it pumps out nearly 75 each year and is distributed in 15 states. It’s looking to expand its territory this year, hoping to move into the Maryland, Illinois and South Carolina markets.

To help with the expansion, the brewery recently added equipment that allowed it to double its production. The brewery says it now has the capacity to produce up to 30,000 barrels a year.

Thirsty Dog was one of only about a dozen craft breweries in Ohio back when it first opened. Today, there are more than 200.

It launched the Blues & Brews beer festival, which takes place every August and will celebrate its 13th anniversary this year.

It has hosted numerous fundraisers for local groups such as Child Guidance & Family Solutions’ annual Growing Up Akron event.

And it has partnered with local institutions and restaurants for specialty and limited-edition brews. It made beers commemorating the 125th anniversary of the city of Barberton, 200th anniversary of the city of Cuyahoga Falls and 175th anniversary of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Najeway also helped found the Ohio Craft Brewers Association.

Along the way, the brewery has won numerous medals at the Great American Beer Festival, World Beer Cup and other events. It also made an appearance — albeit for only one year — on RateBeer.com’s annual list of the Best Brewers in the World in 2015.

“Thirsty Dog has been a leader and standard-bearer of the Ohio craft beer community for the past two decades,” Ohio Craft Brewers Association spokesman Justin Hemminger said. “The awards and accolades that John and his team have racked up have helped draw significant attention to the quality work being done by Ohio’s craft brewers.”

Full circle

Thirsty Dog is coming full circle with the opening next month of the Thirsty Dog Taphouse, a taproom and kitchen at 587 Grant St. in a 3,000-square-foot building that for years housed Glen’s Train Shop.

The space is just a few doors down from the brewery.

It will feature 24 taps of Thirsty Dog beers, with 12 of those dedicated to rare, barrel-aged and sour beers.

The Taphouse also will be home to a small bar with a granite countertop, tables, a party room, regular cask ales and a 55-inch flat-screen television, which is missing from the current taproom.

The food menu will showcase local meats and cheeses from places such as Duma Meats and Lucky Penny Farm, sandwiches and soups. The taproom and kitchen also will sell six-packs, growlers and kegs.

There’s no specific date yet for it to open. The Taphouse will essentially replace the bar at the brewery, which has limited hours now.

The new space will be open from noon to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and from noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. The bar at the production brewery will remain open but only on Saturday afternoons as part of tours.

Part of the charm of visiting the current Thirsty Dog taproom is being immersed in a working brewery. The bar sits in the middle of the brewery and it isn’t unusual for a forklift to buzz by.

No one has ever been run over, but Thirsty Dog believes it’s best for everyone’s safety that people aren’t milling around the brewery. There are other reasons as well, including better parking at the new site.

Thirsty Dog took an old brewhouse door from the brewery and installed it in the new tasting room to bring in a little bit of the old flavor.

The Taphouse isn’t the only new venture in the works. There’s talk about opening a brewpub in the Flats in Cleveland, but the owners have been quiet about their plans there, saying nothing has been finalized yet.

Celebratory beers

Thirsty Dog, which has brewed many special beers for others over the years, will release a slew of new offerings to help celebrate its anniversary.

A barrel-aged version of Bernese Barley Wine Ale will be released next month in 750-milliliter bottles. A barrel-aged Old Leghumper is coming in four-packs in August. Barrel-aged 12 Dogs of Christmas will be available in four-packs of 12-ounce bottles for the first time at the holiday. A barrel-aged version of its Pumpkin Ale will hit the market in 750-milliliter bottles and draft in August, and Cerasus, a Flanders-style red ale, will make its debut in bottles.

Given the opportunity to reflect on his career, Najeway, who started at Thirsty Dog when he was 27 years old, was asked what he would tell his younger self.

The Columbus brewery will host the first class tonight (March 14) in its new Land-Grant University, a four-session program designed to teach people about beer-making.

The first course, which is sold out and was developed by the brewery, will focus on yeast. The "students," who paid $25, are given a coursebook and follow along with a live lecture.

"When we were first planning Land-Grant, education was something that was an integral part of what we wanted our brewery and taproom to be, LGU is really our first foray into formalizing that educational aspect," brewery founder and President Adam Benner said in a prepared statement. "Our brewers have done an amazing job crafting up some special beers and an engaging course, these should be a lot of fun."

The next class topic and date will be announced in April.

The brewery on Tuesday also announced the release of Oval Beach Belgian Blonde Ale. The beer, which is 6.6 percent alcohol by volume, is the first Belgian-style beer that Land-Grant has packaged.

"We found that the honey paired perfectly with the hop profile of the beer, Tettnang and Brewer’s Gold; two bittering hops lending a soft floral and fruity spiciness to the final product," brewer Justin Reik said in a statement.

Oval Beach will launch exclusively at the brewery taproom on draft and in six-packs at 3:30 p.m. today (March 14). Six-packs, which will sell for $9.99, will roll out to retailers on Monday.

Here's the rundown of the brewing permits pending before the Ohio Division of Liquor Control. These could be for new breweries or existing breweries that are expanding with new locations. I've also added hyperlinks when I could find working websites or Facebook pages.

This list isn't a comprehensive list of every brewery planning to open in the state. It's just the ones that have filed paperwork with the state.

To help with anybody who regularly checks, I've added the word "New>>" to the operations that are new this week.

Here you go, sorted by region, and accurate as of the morning of March 13:

It’s the second consecutive year that Hop JuJu, an imperial India pale ale, garnered the judged honor. And it really should come as no shock, given the beer’s pedigree.

Hop JuJu has won three gold medals and a bronze at the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup since 2013.

Fat Head’s, which has a production brewery in Middleburg Heights and brewpub in North Olmsted, bested 16 other Ohio beers and a mead that were presented to a panel of three “celebrity” judges.

The panel was made up of Acme Fresh Markets Director of Center Store Sales Jon Albrecht, Cleveland.com beer writer Marc Bona and myself.

Unlike past years, the judging wasn’t done blind, meaning we knew which brands we were drinking. Given the breadth of styles submitted — everything from a pilsner to a triple imperial stout to a spiced Christmas beer — the goal was to select a “best of show.”

It was difficult, perhaps impossible, to overlook Hop JuJu.

Wulver, a bourbon barrel-aged scotch ale made by Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. in Akron, finished second, while Smash Pils from HiHO Brewing Co. in Cuyahoga Falls was third. (There actually was a tie for third — Rhinegeist Truth IPA was the other — but two out of three judges picked HiHO head’s up to give it the final edge.)

Grant Anklam is the lead brewer at Columbus Brewing Co. in Columbus. The brewery is the second-oldest craft brewery in Ohio and is known for award-winning beers such as Bodhi and Creeper.

Question: Why did you become a brewer?

Answer: Because I would have made a horrible doctor??

I have always been a musician, so following a life and career that allows me to create has always been extremely important to me. I started homebrewing in college. After a random stop into CBC six years ago, and a couple pints with our owner Eric Bean, I had somehow talked myself into a job. Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to obtain a certification from the American Brewers Guild.

I truly love brewing. It's not a glamorous gig and that suits me. I come in every day, listen to music and spend the day creating something with people who are just as passionate. It may sound cheesy but I still have moments of “Holy sh*t, I get to make beer for a living.”

Q: What has been the highlight of your brewing career so far and why was it so special? (Maybe it's been a beer that you brewed, an award that you won, an idol you've met ...)

A: Traveling and the comaraderie of the industry has to be the number one highlight. I've been places I never thought I would go, met amazing people, and have always been greeted like a brother. It takes a special person to be in this industry and for that there is a common bond amongst us.

I can think of many moments along the journey that have shaped me as a brewer. However, there are many times I cannot remember and for that I know we rocked it like a hurricane.

Traveling also allows you to talk shop with other brewers and potentially learn new ways to do things (and I also learned to pack more than one set of pants. That’s an important lesson).

I had a great moment this past fall. I brewed a small batch beer called the Great Outdoors for my dad. I tried to create a beer he had always described but never had quite found. It was an easy drinking session beer with a good amount of hop character and malt to balance it out. Somewhat of a hoppy session red. We went on a camping trip shortly after and brought a small keg along. While sitting around the fire and sharing a few pints, I realized that THIS is why I do it. There’s a sense of pride in that. I am just lucky enough to get to do it every day. But I cannot emphasize enough….two pairs of pants.

Q: What advice can you give future brewers to be successful?

A: Listen. If you surround yourself with smart people who have been in the industry for awhile, you should make an effort to take it all in. Trust me, you'll learn something.

Read, research and experiment. Brewing is the perfect balance of science and art. What works for one brewery may not work for yours, but you still should try it.

Document everything and seek and destroy. Have fun with it. Be disciplined and respect the trade but also put your own spin on it. But seriously….two pairs of pants.

Q: What’s your best-selling beer and why do you think it’s so popular?

A: Dang. Best selling and most popular for us may not be the same beer. Our double IPA, Bodhi, would probably have to take the prize though. It sure doesn’t drink like 8.3 percent and that’s why I have always described it as dangerously good. It has everything I want in a double IPA …Tropical fruit notes, pine and citrus combine with a medium body for a nice clean sweet finish. It's just a great example of having fun with beer. Creating a beer that doesn’t drink as big as it is.

Q: Which beer – any beer in the world – do you wish that you created/invented/brewed and why?

A: The obvious answer is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It is just ol' reliable. It set the bar for all of us. It's always my “go-to” at a bar that doesn’t have much to choose from in that realm. However, I'd have to pay homage to all those late nights, bad decisions, stupid tattoos, concerts and debauchery of my youth and say Busch Light. Yeah, f-ing Busch Light. And remember, two pairs of pants.

Editor's note: The Five questions with ... feature appears each Friday. If you would like to participate or would like to nominate someone to participate, send me an email at rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.

Eight women from Central Ohio who are working in the craft beer industry converged on Weasel Boy Brewing Co. in Zanesville on Wednesday (March 8) to celebrate International Women's Brew Day and brew a grisette named Nevertheless Persist.

The beer, a light Belgian-style ale, was made with paw paw fruit and spice bush berries from Integration Acres in Athens. It will be available for sale at participating breweries in early April.

The participating women were (back row, left to right in photo above): Cheryl Harrison of Drink Up Columbus; Jessica Byrne of Lineage Brewing; Mary MacDonald, executive director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association; Jessica Page of Lineage Brewing; (front row) Jennie Koeper and Lori Wince of Weasel Boy; Nichole Endicott of Lineage; and Caitlin Davis and Liz Stout of Seventh Son Brewing.

In other International Women's Day news, WKYC-TV in Cleveland reported on the first female brewmaster in North America who got her start in Akron. Margaretha Burkhardt took over the Wolf Ledge Brewery in the 1880s when her husband died. To read the full story, click here.